How the Internet Was Hijacked by the Powerful and What We Can Do About It

- Information is power, (lively upbeat music) which is why information has always been stuck in a tug of war between the elites and the masses. We're in one of those moments right now. For a lot of history, information was controlled by the king, the emperor, the Church, who jealously guarded the few handwritten books in existence and used that information monopoly to control what people thought. Then there was this German inventor who created a device that covered little metal words in ink and pressed them onto paper.

The power of information was unlocked to the masses. Not just in Europe, China had been doing this printing press thing for a long time. Suddenly, the kings and the Church were losing control of the narrative, which led people to question the Church's story, leading them to new discoveries and creations, an explosion of new ideas, rethinking who should rule them. A revolution brought on by words on a page, recorded and openly passed around. Information is indeed power. The authors of the American Revolution recognized just how vital all of this was, and right at the beginning,

they wrote in that the government can't control the flow of information from the press, that it was sacred. It's what had made this revolution possible. Information is power. And look at all of this power pouring out to the masses every day on cheap gray paper. (printing press whirring) But the elites didn't suddenly stop trying to control information. Here they are again, looking to control the story and influence society and succeeding quite well. Soon, the press wasn't just a press; it was information traveling in waves through the air.

First, just the sound of a voice, but then moving images appearing to millions of people live. - [Narrator] He wanted to see his favorite television program, which starts at seven o'clock. - Information just got a lot more powerful. And with time, it was controlled by the few big corporations that could afford all the expensive infrastructure required to make this magic work. Or in some places, controlled by a regime who manipulated what people believe, what they were allowed to know, who they were allowed to be. (ominous dramatic music) Information is power.

(light upbeat music) By the mid-20th century here in America, even though information still flowed through just a few big companies, those companies took the responsibility seriously, partly because they weren't under intense pressure to chase profits, but partly because the federal government would take away their license if they didn't clearly show that they were serving the public interest with fair, balanced journalism. This wasn't just an expectation; it was a policy enforced through the Fairness Doctrine. So the big networks reported the facts.

This guy was called the most trusted man in America. - And that's the way it is. Friday, March- - [John] The nation shared a common reality and definition of truth, power held by the people. - Reporting for CBS News. - Oh, but here come the money people again. (groovy upbeat music) In the 1980s, the haters of government regulation killed the Fairness Doctrine, and very quickly, journalism shifted from a public service into a full-on profit-maximizing business once again. The content started running nonstop, 24 hours, optimizing for attention, ratings, opinions, and deprioritizing truth and substance.

Once again, powerful people are trying to control the information, but not for long. - [Announcer] Happy 2000! (crowd cheering) (fireworks banging) - Are you kidding? I can't go another day without the internet. - The internet was a big moment for this tug of war. It was the ultimate democratizer of mass communication. It even promised to end this tug of war altogether. End the cycle of powerful people always trying to control the flow of information.

Kings and priests back then, media moguls and financiers now- - This is the most humble day of my life. - Was their reign over? - You can find anything from planning a vacation to MTV or real-time live audio. The net is fabulous. - Journalists at the time observed that, quote, "Nobody owns the internet. No single organization controls it." This could be the end of, quote, "choking the flow of information," because the internet, quote, "celebrated the right to speak and be heard." And those predictions start coming true.

(purposeful orchestral music) (protestors chanting) It's looking like a single video can spark a revolution. Young people huddled around a computer, sending 140 characters, can lead that revolution. Secrets are exposed, abuses and corruption are instantly seen by millions. Accountability, transparency, powerful stuff outside the control of the gatekeepers. There was a sense that the internet would lead to this revolution, to a, quote, "more rational, less dogmatic approach to politics." For "The world's information was being liberated," and so are we.

(purposeful orchestral music) Not quite. Something happened. (computer keyboard clacking) (tense thoughtful music) Look, the internet allows you to connect with your friends really easily. And a programmer in California just invented a little piece of code that can summarize all your friends' updates on a feed, a news feed. Hmm, okay, let's use that code not just to aggregate your friends' updates, but for other interesting information of all kinds, interesting articles, interesting photos, anything from around the growing internet. And before long, the software is even guessing what I like, learning my tastes.

This is cool and perfect timing. 'Cause now Steve Jobs has just given us little computers that fit inside our pockets, connected by the internet that is now flowing through the air we breathe. We have access anywhere we go, and that little computer brain running this news feed continues to ensure that I will be getting everything I want, or at least everything I can't stop looking at, starts to show me a reality that is tailor-made for me. One that confirms my identity, one that demonizes people I disagree with, echoes my opinions, and soon, I'm making a whole career off these algorithms. And yes, I have to make these faces sometimes to get people to click,

but I'm able to publish in-depth journalism. Stuff that would never fly in the old media world, but now is finding millions of people who want to learn about the world. This makes me feel a deep appreciation for the internet and the algorithms that helped give me a career. But I also see that we are in one of those moments. Once again, in a tug of war, where the world's richest men are concentrating control over the pipes through which all of this is running, all of our information, what we see, regardless of if it's true or not.

Same thing is happening in traditional media that is now centralized around just a few companies and a few really powerful men, and it's only centralizing more. This guy, Larry Ellison, and his family, in addition to spending loads of money on supporting the politicians they like, they're also on a buying spree of media outlets. Everything from movies to TV to news channels. Like Ellison, literally now has a huge controlling stake of CBS. Remember? The most trusted man in America?

He's trying to buy CNN, HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery Channel, and he's trying to buy a bunch of other huge media outlets right now, including this big new investment in the U.S. operations of TikTok. The internet promised to democratize information in a new way. And it did that. But once again, we see that we're back in the cycle, that our information flow is being centralized around a few rich people, threatening that promise like never before. Okay, but listen, I actually have hope, a lot of hope, and it is derived from something very real, which is all of you. Millions and millions of people who show up from all around the world week after week to watch and engage with in-depth

curiosity-driven journalism to better understand the world. I don't think the promise of the internet is dead. I just think it's in the middle of being hijacked. And we want to create a place where we can start to take it back, which is why today we are launching Newpress. (bright pulsing music) Newpress isn't just another media channel or media company. It's more of an idea. An idea that journalism can be done differently; it can be done with people instead of just at people.

Newpress is made up of two parts. Part one is the journalists who are creators like me; we're building a group of journalists who all have their own channels. So we have mine, we have "Search Party" with Sam Ellis, we have "Tunnel Vision" with Christophe Haubursin. We're launching our fourth with former The New York Times columnist Max Fisher. All of these channels are different from one another because they are driven by the personal curiosity and perspective of each creator. But what unites these channels under Newpress is our goal of bringing understanding,

genuine understanding, to important events around the world. It's not breaking news; it's nourishing in-depth journalism that teaches you how the world works. Okay, so that's part one of Newpress. We've been doing that for a couple years now. Today, we are launching part two of that vision, which has a lot more to do with all of you. (computer keyboard clacking) (light thoughtful music) Newpress.com is our new algorithm-free corner of the internet where we can bring all of you deeper into our journalism.

This is where you can ask your questions, but also get insight into what stories we're working on. And my favorite part: you can contribute your unique understanding the world to our journalism. Maybe you have experience or expertise in a certain topic, maybe you live in the place that we're reporting on, and can help lend perspective. Or maybe you're simply curious, and you want to help us dig up facts. Newpress is the place where you will be able to contribute to our journalism and help make it stronger, more representative, and more accurate for everyone.

Anyone who's been following my work for a while knows that I love crowdsource journalism. That's what "Vox Borders" was all about. And over the years, I've always leaned on the community to make my journalism better. Newpress is just that vision put onto a platform with a lot of resources and people to help make it happen. We've already been running some early experiments on this with people who signed up for the Newpress waitlist. Like, I had this huge old Japanese map that I got from a collector, but I didn't know exactly what it was depicting, what year, what purpose. So I put it to the Newpress waitlist community, and soon thousands of curious people

from all around the world were swarming this map, leaving their thoughts and insights. Turns out we have a lot of map lovers in the audience, which I'm thrilled about, and I came away from this with a much deeper insight on this old map. So that's just one tiny example of the type of crowdsource journalism we'll be doing on Newpress, but it will take many different forms. So a big question that's come up a bunch as we've been building this platform is how much do we charge for it? And the answer after a lot of deliberation is nothing. We want this to be free. We want the widest, most diverse group of voices to contribute to our journalism. So there will be no paywall locking you from participating.

You can go sign up right now at newpress.com and start contributing to the prompts that we have up there. Okay, but real talk here, this thing has to make money, or we will not be able to keep it open. So, for those who have the finances and want to contribute and support this mission, you can sign up as a paying member. It's $60 bucks a year. Paying members will get access to a deeper insight into how we make our journalism, stuff that you don't see on YouTube. They'll get access to a few extra spaces and communities, and some exclusive content like Q&As with me, discussions with the other creators, maybe some unpublished interviews.

Oh, and for those who sign up soon, you'll be considered a Founding Member. And as a thank you, I am going to send you a beautiful print of that Japanese map that we crowdsourced with the community. I've been working on this thing, designing it, getting it ready to ship out. I wrote a little narrative about the map based on the insights from the community, and you can see it as kind of a little piece of Newpress history marking the beginning of this journey. So you get that sent to you for free if you sign up. And if you do pay, you can know that we'll be using this money to fund more creators, to build more channels, and to make more in-depth videos,

in addition to running Newpress, the platform. That's what this money is gonna be used for. Basically, scaling up this effort to reimagine what journalism can be. But let me be very clear, whether you are a paying member or a free member, that will not affect your voice in the community. Everyone's voice is equal when it comes to contributing to our journalism. We're not doing this to create some elite club where our coverage is only made to please our funders. Our mission is to foster a place of curiosity and understanding through collective intelligence of the group, curiosity over ideology. So we're doing this.

I mean, I gotta say, I'm a little bit nervous. This is literally the biggest thing we've ever done, and I don't totally know how it's gonna go, but I feel a lot of hope. I'm feeling so much excitement. We have, like, tens of thousands of people already on the waitlist, and today it's live, newpress.com. I don't totally know what form this is gonna take, but I know that if we get enough people to come and participate in this community, we will all shape it together. And my hope in all of this is that we can create a place

where journalism and information feels empowering, transparent, honest, and that helps you actually understand what is happening in the world today instead of just scares you with noisy headlines. We are undoubtedly in another one of those moments where powerful people are moving in to control the flows of information of all kinds because information is power. So come help us build a place where we can start to take that power back. I'll see you over at Newpress. (clicks fingers) Thanks, everyone. (upbeat synth-pop music)